The Little One is Going

Up, up and away!

It’s been a day.

Well, I’ll start at the beginning. Himself and I are flying to Houston next month to (finally) meet my father. Yes, when I drag something out it gets drug to the limit. Our meeting simply cannot wait any longer, so the plane tickets are booked.

Since we’re unaccustomed to being gone, a trip means about 5,000 different little things need to happen before we leave… among them dog boarding. I figured the best place for boarding my three angels (I’ll let you stop laughing before I go on) would be in someone’s home instead of a kennel, so I set up a Meet n Greet with my selected dog sitters from ROVER dot com for today.

My chosen sitters were two ladies with a great reputation who seemed very nice. Bonus: they only live a few miles away! So, we loaded the girls up, Bree riding with Mike in the Mini and the littles with me in the truck.

When we arrived one of the ladies met us outside and showed us back to the back yard… where there is a pool. To be fair, I knew they had a pool, but assumed (don’t say it!) they’d have a safety fence around it. They did not.

I declined to have the six large barking dogs in the house come out to meet us (!) because for one I don’t know them and two, my dogs were stressed just leaving the house. They never get to go anywhere, poor things.

Would you like to know who fell in the pool first? Yes, it was my elderly Collie, replete with cataracts. She hobbled around and there was no way she wasn’t falling in… fortunately it was near the steps so we got her out without incident. That was followed by Daisy, who couldn’t swim if the debbil himself was chasing her! I let out a high pitched squeal and went in to get her.

Then Bree fell into the deep end and Mike had to dive in to save her! To her credit she can swim, but her limbs aren’t strong enough to extricate that body anymore. That’s when I started cursing. Stress does that to me, like some people come out in hives.

Badger was surprisingly smart enough to stay clear of the water. She was too busy marking all the other dog’s pee spots.

Bree will stay at the Vet’s, Badger at a ‘Spa’ and Daisy? She’s coming with me.

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Entry

New roof, new doors, new windows… but still so much to do inside.

I just like this picture…

…and what we see from the front door.

Could be worse. Could be much, much worse.

But here’s what I want to know… when do you put too much money into a house? There must be a tipping point, at which time you cease to get a return for your investment.

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Siblings

Lisa, Tom, *me, Pat

So, my two sisters and one of my brothers decided to come see me – they flew in Thursday and left this morning. It’s slightly surreal, to suddenly have family.. but a very, very good thing because they’re wonderful people. Warm, friendly, accepting… just the best. I love Tom’s wife as well. She feels like another sister.

There are two brothers and my father to meet, so I’ll do that… sooner rather than later.

*We were rained on while at the beach, so I’m dorky looking and my hair was weird. Add a big mole and put me in the circus!

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Just Hanging Out

‘Lazy’ has been the order of the week. Thankfully all gifts have been purchased and mailed… and the house cleaning came to an abrupt halt after I decided to not give a fig about random piles of dog hair anymore.

It’s liberating.

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From Blue to Blah

Legend has it that I possess a little lamp, half borrowed from YsD when she found lodging with us many years ago.

The wood piece on the lamp -which belonged to YsD- was originally blue, but I could not reconcile the thing, since my contributed shade was burgundy.

I do not have considerable skill in DIY, unlike some… but decided to tackle the problem of the blue wood piece anyway.  I painted it taupe, using the latex from the recent bedroom re-do. That was hideous, so then I ordered a little tube of silver (what was I thinking?) and it became pretty damn festive. If I thought the taupe was bad… ugh.

Then and only then did the thought occur to sand everything off down to the wood and stain it.

So I did. It took many days because I sanded it by hand. Well, not everything had come off; the blue had seeped into the wood and dyed it in places… and I was sick of sanding.

I thought the right stain would leave the wood looking almost nice. Well, I didn’t buy the right stain and I didn’t read the directions before tackling the project. Of course.


After four applications I couldn’t get it any darker, so I gave up. Something in me wants to strip it all down and try again, but not right now.

It actually looks okay at night when the light’s on, but when it’s not? Heh.


Now I’m thinking of papering the shade with old maps.

The good news is, I’ve been able to clean my kitchen counters off. 😉


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Father

My father Saturday after the Veteran’s Day ceremony.

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This man kills me. I hadn’t had a father since 1978, and suddenly, I did. My emotions are all over the place. When we speak on the phone I giggle like a 5 year old with a feather to her feet. When he writes sweet things in his emails I break down and cry!! I’d like to even off soon…

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